A Look Ahead to 2021

In retrospect, my plans for 2020 seem so quaintly innocent. Write a few stories, travel to writer and book conventions to teach and learn things, plus meet new friends and readers, and get my author business back on track after the previous summer of calamitous life events. Little did I know that the Calamity Fairy was just getting started, and would make a bid for world domination. However, with the vaccine coming, I'm hopeful for the coming year, even though we have some dark days ahead before we get to safety. On the theory that the word “p l a n” attracts trouble, I'm calling this post simply “a look ahead to 2021.”

Books and Stories Ahead

Space Opera and Paranormal Romance

Finishing the stubbornly feral book that is Spark Transform, novel #5 in the Central Galactic Concordance space opera series, is my top priority. Next will be a story for the Pets in Space 6 anthology (see below). Looking ahead down the road, I'll jump into the next two books in the Ice Age Shifters® paranormal romance series. If time permits, I might try for a couple of short stories, too, even though they somehow always end up being novellas.

Pets in Space

When the estimable organizers of the Pets in Space® science fiction romance anthologies were looking for a new captain, I was in the right place at the right time to step into that role. Even though I've had a story in three out of five anthologies, running the ship is not at all the same as being one of the crew, as it were. I'm quite sure I'm looking at a learning curve. Fortunately, I have help in 2021 from a personal assistant and a marketing consultant to take on some of the workload.

Super-Secret Project on the Horizon

I've been working on side project for 18 long months (thanks, Calamity Fairy!), and it's finally this][close  to launch. It's not a writing project, but it does involve paranormal romance. My apologies for how annoyingly vague that is, but I think it'll be worth the wait. 

Author in the Wild (Conventions Have a Different Look)

The pandemic tilted the world sideways for a lot of businesses, and the writing and book conventions were no exception. Some are bravely moving their events online. Pikes Peak Writers Conference is one of them, and I'll be one of the live presenters in April 2021. I'll tell you more about it when I know more. 

Given the incoming U.S. government administration's plan (there's that word again) for getting the vaccines administered far and wide, I'm cautiously optimistic that travel will become safer again starting this summer. With luck, Fort Collins Comic Con, typically held in late August, will be an in-person event. I have similar hopes for the 20BooksTo50K writer's conference in Las Vegas in November.

New Office for 2021

On the home front, when we finally finish the basement remodeling project, I get a new office. An actual, purpose-built office, with lots of light and electrical outlets, and towers for kitties, and the giant whiteboard of my dreams. Plus, I'll get a new room I'm calling my studio, which sounds more classy than “the room with all the boxes and stuff.” It'll even have a treadmill for the days I'm disinclined to brave the weather.

Right now, it's just framing and insulation on the bare concrete, but drywall and flooring are coming soon. I've promised the long-suffering cats they'll get the first look when things are ready, but I'll be posting a few photos for you all soon after.